Can treadmill desks help keep us young?

Could walking while we work significantly improve our chances of living to a ripe old age? This is the question posed by BBC News writer Peter Bowes, who tried writing a news story for BBC while walking at a rate of 1 mph on a treadmill desk.

ASU's James Levine, co-director of the Obesity Solutions Initiative, was quoted in Bowes' article about the health benefits of using a treadmill desk to counter the many health risks of sitting all day, which include hypertension, high cholesterol, cardiovascular disease, certain types of cancer and a predisposition to diabetes, to name a few.

"The evidence overwhelmingly suggests that prolonged sitting is shortening our lives and also our quality of life," says Levine.

The overall impact is "early death," writes Bowes. "Faced with such a litany of negative consequences, Levine has tested and promoted the concept of a treadmill desk as a way of countering the effects of modern day living."